UPDATE: House of Welcome Volume 1 out now on Bandcamp!
Free Press Music is a Filipina American led San Francisco based music collective with roots in soul, jazz, blues and improvisation. Vocalist/songwriter Christie Aida and her group conjure a deep and dynamic repertoire that constellates sounds from around the globe. Singing in Spanish, Tagalog, English and French, Aida deftly interweaves her wide ranging influences to create a delightful and surprising mix of classics, deep cuts, and original numbers. Those originals often are informed by her sensitivity and advocacy for community organizing, social justice, and housing as a human right. As such, the stories, struggles, and everyday life experiences of Tenderloin and SOMA residents, in particular Filipinos and other communities of color, crop up in FPM’s music; for example, the narrative of the Tenderloin Museum’s physical home, the Cadillac Hotel, is the subject of a song “Reality House.” The song celebrates the residents and the history of the Cadillac, including one resident who practices harm reduction by using Narcan regularly to help others in crisis. (by Spin/Rolling stone writer A. Spoto)
Free Press Editions include: Free Press Music SF Collective and the Free Press Fil-Am/Filipina Edition.
Free Press plays at venues such as Golden Gate Bandshell Jazz + Soul Fridays courtesy of SF Parks-Rec/Parks Alliance/Illuminate, SkyBridge on Stevenson All the Way Live Dance courtesy of the SF Parks Alliance, Bird and Beckett, Flower Piano, Kapwa Gardens, (SOMA Pilipinas), the Cadillac Hotel, Revolution Cafe, Club Deluxe, Madrone, the Lost Church, and other political/private/non-profit events.
Free Press features rotating guest musicians and poets such as Annelise Zamula (Flute/Saxophone), Ryan Mihaly, (saxophone/piano), Dave Mihaly, (Percussion/Piano/Guitar), David Boyce, (saxophone Broun Fellinis), Billy White, (Piano), Ahkeel Mestayer, (percussion), Mena Ramos, (percussion), Kai Lyons (guitar), SF Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin and Filipino poet Jx Theo.
Free Press supports housing and human rights. "Housing is a human right" is a mantra which galvanized us in the aftermath of Ghostship, (Oakland), as many artists continue to live in substandard conditions, face eviction, and/or experience homelessness. Free Press supports non-profits and community organizations such as SOMA Pilipinas, Republika, Kapwa Gardens, Cadillac Hotel/Concerts at the Cadillac, (serving low-income residents in the Tenderloin), Reality House West, Code Tenderloin, the Gubbio Project, Nepali/Tibetan Monasteries and local/national affordable housing organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. All efforts must be made by stakeholders to prevent Filipinos, (as well as other communities of color), from being further displaced in the SOMA as happened with the International Hotel.
For more information, contact thefreepressmusic@gmail.com for upcoming gigs and booking requests.
Photos taken by Jay Mijares, (https://photosontherun.com) and Fred Aube, (@ Aube.fred). Clothing by Al's Attire.
